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Chapter Three: Exposing the Lies
Only the very wise or the very foolish speak willingly with the divine - Ursula Vernon Tier One Tier Two Ashwood Abbey Pleasure cults have existed since ancient times. Greek and Roman temples sprung up to celebrate Dionysus and Bacchus, as does their conflict with self proclaimed guardians of morality: The Roman Senate placed a restriction on the celebration of Bacchanalias due to their disruptive nature on Aventine Hill. The Abbey considers itself part of a long tradition of such pleasure cults. The original Hellfire Club itself dressed the celebrations it hosted in the traditions of ancient cults and religions to better sin against the ruling religious ideals of the era. Considering the Abbey itself was founded and led by a religious man, this might have been the ultimate hedonism. Since the Abbey is the inheritor of such an infamous lineage, they often try to interact with other cults so long as they’re “playful” enough. Granted, they stay far away from any cults preaching a pure lifestyle and chastity. No, the Abe only traffics with the most stimulating out there. Free love sects. Heroin shooting communes. Abe members have been to more “back-to-nature” communities than they’ve had vampires at their bigger gatherings. The garden variety is always worth going to, of course, but the better times are had when the Abe finds something truly inhuman. Occult-focused cults always make the most fun. Depending on who’s sponsoring the get-together it means actually inviting any creatures the cult may actually follow. The cult may have magical rituals to enhance human senses exponentially. They can have access to piles of drugs and other chemical “treatments”. Never mind all the easily impressed minds that clearly want to be told what to do and will do anything to do it. Cults don’t mind the Abe either from what’s been reported. Sometimes an Abe meeting with a cult is like two old friends getting together to catch up on the times. Given the life of the Abe, this may just be the case. Sidebar: Aventine All the Time? Astute readers will notice that the Aventine Hill is also the same location as the legendary Aves Minerva, ancient Roman hunters who followed the goddess Minerva in the hunting and killing of the enemies of the Roman people. So did the Aves Minerva play a part in the limiting of these cults? Or did the pleasure cults go deep cover and into waiting under the catacombs of Aventine? Story Hook A local youth free-love commune needs your help. The area authorities are making their life hell. Cops are stopping them for the flimsiest reasons. Local religious leaders are subtly encouraging their congregations to beware the strange group loving without “knowledge of the consequences”. They know your cell is powerful in the region. In return for your help, they’ll allow you to join their gatherings any time you want. Sounds like fun. Time to go to work. Long Night “''Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Josiah said, taking the rattlesnakes and cottonmouths from the heated crate. They writhed and squirmed in his hands, signs of God’s grace made manifest.'' The tent was ripe with expectation. Some had come out of curiosity, trying to understand just how a mortal man could handle snakes so dangerous. Some were consistent in their attendance, continually going to praise the work of God on Earth and save their own sinful souls. Two had volunteered to hold the serpents themselves, but one was not sincere in his faith, and could only raise a withered stump of a hand in praise, the other hanging limply at his side. “''Like the Apostles, I have come to lead the chosen people of Yahweh to the Revelation. I come to cleanse them of their inequities and salvage their souls for the day of Judgment.” Standing at the pulpit, he held the snakes up to the lights, watching as they moved faster, squirming and writhing in his hands before one began to bite him. Soon the snakes bit over and over, tearing the flesh and forcing deadly poisons into his veins. Josiah kept his eyes shut, letting the venom course through his veins, standing proudly at the pulpit. The uninitiated gasped, but the loyal followers sang louder. Their prayers gave Josiah strength, and as their singing was louder his body was healed. The poisons were gone, replaced by true faith in the One Almighty God.'' “''Now who is willing to prove their faith alongside me?”'' Christianity is soil in which cults may grow. Hundreds of different accepted, suspicious and downright dangerous subsets exist that worship the Abrahamic God. Despite some thinking that Jesus made it obvious what he was trying to carry across to the people, thousands over the years have tried to take the message of Christ to their own causes and personal glory. Christian cults are also some of the most famous. Jim Jones and David Koresh led their own personal Christian cults, preaching their own warped gospel and claiming they were the next incarnation of Jesus on Earth. And look how that turned out for their followers. As a whole the Long Night isn't a cult. The theology is too diverse, the communication lines are too weak, but like Christianity itself The Long Night is fertile soil for cults. The Tribulation Militia is full of charismatic leaders and it's members would just love to be ordered around by God himself. Sadly, they can't always tell the word of god from an imposter. An infamous Long Night cult arose outside Topeka, Kansas in the mid-1990s. The cell had previously been formed out of one of the state’s innumerable megachurches, and for years had been a powerhouse at combating smaller monstrous hideouts and skirting the suspicions of the area authorities due to their connections. By the time they had purchased their compound, they had become convinced that the cities were a hideout used by every monster imaginable, and that the urban minorities sheltered them. This was enough to put them on a few radars, but everything changed when the group reported to the Long Night forums that they found a real angel. That was when all contact ceased with the outside. The cell, now a small army of about a hundred, was armed and ready to make war. The ATF had been tracking their movements for weeks, and the warrant was ready to be served when a fire broke out in the compound. Despite the suspicion, no explosives or weapons were ever fired at or in the compound, and the conflagration apparently started in the middle of the compound’s chapel. By the time the ATF had breached the gate and escorted the fire crew inside, the only remains of all those inside were blackened bones that broke at the smallest touch, their clothes and the pews. Most interestingly, the cross was untouched. Mothers had clutched their children close. The compound still had hot meals on tables and weapons being maintained. Everyone had abandoned their duties to go to the chapel and die. The most disturbing scene of all was that of the leader, bones frozen in midair, hands raised to the sky in praise. Just because the Long Night have had a few more cells slide down the slippery slope than they're comfortable admitting dosn't mean they're any more forgiving when others do the same. Most Long Night cells usually take an extremely hardline view on pagan and hedonistic cults. Yes the offer redemption and mercy, they offer mercy to monsters too, and if their offer is rejected a wiccan is just as damned as a witch. Protestant cults are different, especially if they're not visibly monstrous in their practices. The Tribulation Militia find it frustrating when they find a protestant cult, not because they have to come down on them. The frustration comes from the fact that the cult just won’t listen to the real beliefs that the Long Night cell is probably espousing. After all, there’s no central authority to protestantism outside of Jesus, and there hasn’t been a truly confirmed word out of him since 30 A.D. From snake handlers claiming they’re protected as servants of God to polygamist cults believing in the most literal interpretation possible, to mystical sects believing that an intense study of and meditation on the Biblical teachings came bring greater communion with the divine. There's a lot of interpretations of the holy book in-between a good Christian soul and a “correct” understanding of the scripture. Story Hook Someone’s stumbled into your church claiming he’s just come from Topeka, and begs you to tell him the date. He appears shocked and says that the angel saved him for some reason, but the man couldn’t understand the angel’s divine tongue. What he did know is that the angel has given him a mission. He needs to find and kill a powerful vampire lord in your area. The same vampire lord you’ve been close to redeeming. The devil you’ve almost saved, or the angel carrying out God’s will. Loyalists of Thule “So why are we following these guys anyway?” Mike shook his head before he took a sip at his coffee. “They aren’t a hate group.” “That’s exactly what they are.” Mr. Schwartz quietly smoked in the passenger’s seat, despite the oxygen tank that ran into his nose. His thick German accent cut through the air like a blade. “Haven’t you read their information?” Mike looked at the pamphlet again. “Yeah. Reconstruction of the United States, a focus on the community, return to the good Christian American Patriotism that our forefathers followed.” “The forefathers weren’t good Christian patriots, they were angry deists who wanted to prove a political point,” Schwartz said harshly. “Great thinkers and leaders, but don’t fool yourself into thinking that their legends truly reflect the actual men.” “So a little rewriting history automatically makes them bad?” Mike said. “Hell, then schoolbooks are a massive conspiracy.” “They are,” Schwartz said, coughing harshly before taking another long drag. “Any man who claims to know exactly what the men of the past were thinking is a fool.” As the pair watched, pairs and groups came to the door of the house, and Mike realized that there was only one piece of color in the bunch, and that was a shooting target of the local state rep centered in crosshairs. “Told you,” Schwartz said, getting his book out. “Now we deal with the issue before it gets out of hand. Never again, my boy.” The Loyalists of Thule hate cults, they go beyond hatred. The Loyalists of Thule fear cults. Though it started out as a political ideology, Nazism quickly transformed into a cult of personality built around Hitler and the Aryan übermensch. The holocaust was one of the greatest horrors in human history and it didn't take occult power or revolutionary scientific secrets, just the skill to mould the minds of people. When the Loyalists look at cults they see their own debt staring back at them. They see exulted leaders who's word is beyond question. They see followers who will believe anything they're told. They see the world divided into us and them, whole populations labelled as evil. Never again. It is fortunate then, that the Loyalists of Thule are well placed to deal with cults. The typical cult leader is pathologically narcissistic, hypersensitive to how others think of them and sees people as objects. A person like that does not acquire power without stashing a few skeletons in the closet. Most cultists are human and even if the police feel uncomfortable about a religiously sensitive issue The Loyalists can dig up the name of the officer most interested to know where the bodies are. If the cult was founded in a country without a policy of religious freedom, well that just makes it even easier. While some cults do have genuine supernatural resources few have enough to stand up to law enforcement, and if they do the Loyalists can usually dig up the name of some interested hunters. Then of course, there's those cults who actually are Nazis. A modern day revival of the Third Reich's ideals or worse: A remanent of the Nazi war machine, clinging desperately to some horrific weapon not recorded by history. Some days the Loyalists of Thule think some of that time they spent in the library would have been better spent at a firing range. Network Zero There is a paradox at the heart of Network Zero. The Secret Frequency love privacy, they'll sign any petition against Google or Facebook collecting personal data, they know how to use anonymous proxies, in fact if they didn't hide their identities a lot of Net0s would wake up drained of blood. Yet the hunters of Network Zero go armed not with swords, but with cameras. They do not attack the monster's bodies but their privacy. Monsters place just as much value on privacy as their hunters. What is it but the secrecy, the privacy, of her lair that keeps a vampire from waking up with a stake through her heart and the sun cresting the horizon. Of all the monsters it is cults who fear the cameras of network zero most of all. In the world of darkness people will go out of their way to doubt the existence of monsters, but cults, cults are just people and if their abuses are brought to light people act. Many a powerful cult has seen it's death warrant signed, not in the halls of government, not in the Vatican, but on Youtube. Cult hunting is a niche group within Network Zero. A werewolf can transform in moments, and if you have it on camera you have it on camera. A cult's brainwashing can take months. A witch might cast a spell in public to save her life, but there's really no need for a cultist to recite their doctrine outside the compound. Getting the scoop on a cult requires a special kind of hunter: She must be patient enough to play the long game, charming enough to join the congregation without arousing suspicion or skilled enough to spy unseen, most of all she must be a mistress of the documentary. It doesn’t matter that much if a documentary about Vampires is poorly argued, most people wouldn't have believed it if it was good. A video about cults however, that lives or dies on the quality of it's arguments. As for what the Secret Frequency thinks of cults, they don't like them and quite often think cults are a lot more influential than they are. Normally they don't go quite as far as claiming the Catholic Church is a front for worshipping space lizards but it's close. Cults can worship the craziest things, and once you've seen one mummy come to life on camera the next nutter in replica of Tutankhamun's death mask sounds a lot more plausible. The other reason is that the ratings come from the big cults, Network Zero are used to hearing about lobbyists in Washington, Brussels or even Beijing trying to buy a blind eye, if they hear about a cult that never spread beyond a small town the stereotype says the mayor's got an alter in a secret basement. Story Hook Everyone here is a fan of your documentary, of course they don't know you're the author because like everyone else in the protest you're wearing a Guy Fawkes mask. Only this cult has supernatural resources, they can learn a person's name even through a mask and they've got no objection following people home. You got everyone into this, are you going to do the responsible thing and get them out? Null Mysteriis "Prayer is like dark matter" said Dr Afzal in her lecturing voice. "We can't obverse it directly, you can only see it by it's effects. You recover faster if people pray for you. Most of the papers cite Byrd if you want to read up. There are other explanations of course, but I've heard of enough gods to find it plausible. "The question I've always wondered" added Professor Bhutia "is where are all the prayers going. Between Christianity, Islam and Hindus most of the world is praying to someone. Why do these crazy Jonestowns get daily miracles but we're lucky to get one confirmed Christian miracle a year? I've got my suspicions that the metta we put in other people is overwhelming the signal. Slow down, you only asked me to help you research prayers last week. Now you're talking about miracles and what is metta? The youngest person at the table was Helena Cavendish, a lowly PhD student. Buddhism dear, said the doctor he's been going to monasteries every year since we started this research. I keep thinking I should be more devout, but I just can't give up bacon. Helena put down her coffee But even if it's all real, it doesn't change anything. I can't respect any religion that says women should wear burqas. Bhutia took a calming breath Think rationally for a moment, if God is anything like his reputation he cannot be wrong. This is a question of facts, not ethics. "And the Quran was quite progressive for it's day." Seeing the oncoming argument Professor Bhutia stood. "Same time next week?" Of course, who else can we talk to? Cults, cults make a fascinating case study. As cultures go most cults are both different enough from the mainstream, most mainstreams, to be worth studying and young enough that a scientist can go back to the very beginning. However it's the Organization for the Rational Assessment of the Supernatural. Sociologists can go to any university in the world, they come to Null Mysteriis for something else. Often it is subtle. While studying a cult a scientist notices odd coincidences that defy probability and starts wondering if there's something more to it. Other times it is obvious, the heavens open, a choir of trumpets sound, and a scientist is blessed with burning questions. Null Mysteriis welcomes them in. However most members of Null Mysteriis come from the physical sciences, they study the metaphysics of the supernatural and cults are a good a place to look for it. Some cults develop supernatural resources through means not seen anywhere else, which is always worth studying. Others are simply good places to go looking for vampires or witches. Like many scientists members of O.R.A.S. wish to understand the underlying truths of the universe, consequently the divine is a popular field of study and observing cults is usually the best way to find “gods”. Even the most rationalist member will usually concede to the weight of evidence suggesting that there are supernatural beings who exist and follow a very god like modus operandi: answering prayers, encouraging worship and bestowing blessings. More open minded members can entertain ideas as weird as any of the cults they study: Sentient fundamental interactions, anthropomorphic personifications, living concepts, gods as a product of planetary bio-psychic fields and human ascension. The word atheism often gets thrown in the Null Mysteriis direction, but this is an over simplification. As has already been mentioned the Null Mysteriis accepts that the object of some cults' worship objectively exist, even that they act in a god like manner. The question they ask is “why should I worship you”? A rationalist mindset isn't proof against indoctrination (and not every member is as rational as they like to claim) but it provides some measure of defence. When given the recruitment pitch a rationalist will test the cult's claims, and if they don't measure up then there's one person who won't be joining. A lot of the debate within O.R.A.S is definitional, how powerful does a god have to be before it can be called a god? How knowledgeable must a goddess of knowledge be before she's eligible for the title? The Null Mysteriis know very well that the Abrahamic idea of an all-powerful and all-knowing god is not the only one, many cultures worshipped far less impressive deities. Yet if a knowledge deity could hand out blessings to enhance the intellect, answered prayers, and fulfilled all the godly criteria; if it cannot answer basic questions on quantum physics is it even worth worship? Despite all this, many among the Null Mysteriis actually seem remarkably open to joining a cult, if the deity provably exists and fit's an often lengthy set of moral and practical criteria. Some of the more open minded members have considered creating cults whole cloth in the service of fictional deities that are tailor made to their specifications. These members often study the more barmy cults that seem to have done just that and gotten supernatural blessings; in the hope that their methods can be refined through study and put to better use by saner minds. To the cults themselves, Null Mysteriis might as well be a cult. People that don’t understand the procedures that go into research can see the hands of mysticism and the unknown in science. Labs are often full of equipment that can be as mystical to the scientifically illiterate as the rituals of the Catholic Church would be to a Buddhist. While Null Mysteriis often decries these claims, can it be argued that scientists follow the altar of unfeeling reason and bow to the throne of science? Of course not. But tell that to the cults. Story Hook Members of O.R.A.S often joke about being struck by lightning. Well it happened. Professor Dorje Bhutia, a neurologist at Chatham University who sidelined in meta-theology was found dead in his lab from wounds that are consistent with enormous electrical trauma. Also missing is Helena Cavendish, Dorje's best grad student, and the professor's latest research. As a devout Buddhist Professor Bhutia was fascinated by the way certain supernatural beings seemed to feed off prayer, he hoped to one day quantify "prayer energy" and was even experimenting with new designs for "digital prayer wheels" based on neural maps of the human brain during prayer. Was Professor Bhutia's work suppressed, or stolen? The Union The Union prefers to let cults do their own thing mostly. Where other monsters tend to be more active in their disruptions against human society, cults are human and can be dealt with by human institutions. Unless the cult is actively engaging in criminal activities, the Union membership just laughs it off and goes on with their lives. And it is true. Many people who follow neo-pagan beliefs or new age religions still contribute to the community in a positive way. They’re just another part of the American landscape, working folks who want to make their own way like the rest of us. Often, Union cells consult the more mystical cults on information that they may need against a possible threat. Then there are the bad ones. When the Union identifies a cult that’s not exactly family friendly, they do their best to sabotage things. Store owners suddenly deny business to cult members. Police in the area start coming by to investigate calls of strange noises or drug usage. Background information starts to appear on doorsteps and questions the legitimacy of the cult at all. The communal shunning often forces all but the most militant or mad of cults to leave the area. It’s also safe to say the Union is no cult. The sheer variety of personalities, religions, background and even political beliefs ensures that the Union can find a small lever of protection against cult behaviour. It's hard to cultivate a belief in "us vs the world" when most members have stronger ties to their friends and neighbours than to a web forum. There are rumors though, only mentioned on a posts buried deep in the forum database. Rumours like the one saying the Lattimer Massacre in 1897 wasn’t a union action, but a cult. A cult of workers trying to make a workers paradise. The protests by the Slavic miners were real. The posse formed by the local sheriff was real. The cultists were actually part of the sheriff’s posse on that day, bragging about how many miners they would kill. The cult had hoped to force the workers of America to rise for themselves, become their own masters. Instead they only initiated legal actions, and the actual sheriff’s posse was acquitted of all charges. Whether similar cults still run across the nation remains to be seen. Other times its third hand gossip from other hunters reporting on what the Union’s been doing. Police states of complete and utter obedience to "Union rules". These Union cells, quite often Home First, become the utter moral authority in the areas they control. These quasi-cults often base themselves around an ideal neighborhood where crime is practically non-existent and all follow the moral dictates of the Union members. Love bombing is replaced with business boycotts, manipulation accomplished through economic means. Though not worshipping any entity, these cults focus only on the preservation of their status quo. Story Hook A post on the forum’s got you worried. No one’s heard from the town of Dudley, AR, which has suddenly dropped off the map. The closest contact in the area’s said that the area is notorious for the number of disappearances, and everyone’s convinced that there’s a monster in the area. So you’ve volunteered to head down and investigate. The town itself is built around a massive chicken processing plant that serves the nation, and nothing seems too out of the ordinary. Then you see what looks like an altar to a bird-god in the back of one of the plant warehouses. Chaco’s a major employer, and if they go the area slides into decline. Is someone framing Chaco Chicken? Tier Three Aegis Kai Doru Ascending Ones Cheiron Group Cheiron isn’t very interested in cults. More often than not, cults don’t have anything too profitable behind them. Sure, there’s a few cases of scoring big with a group of losers worshipping a possessed egomaniac with a dream and a moneymaker in his flesh but mostly, Cheiron uses cults as a litmus test of an area. The greater the number of cults, the greater the likelihood something is lurking in the area. Despite the lack of interest, Cheiron always keeps a surgically enhanced eye on any devout nutcases. Often, the Recruitment and Field Research branch are most interested in contacting cults, either as expendable resources or aids in researching paranormal subjects and thaumatech implants (usually at the same time). Retrieval rarely gets involved, but when they do they invest big into the acquisitions. The biggest problem Cheirion has with their strategy of supernatural medicine is the reliability of supply. They have body parts coming in constantly, but quite often they're getting zombies when the lab boys want vampires. Cults are one of the few opportunities Cheirion ever has to harvest in bulk. It's not just having more stuff to turn into pills, having a large batch of parts from the same source makes it so much easier to control for variables and create a reliable, profitable new product. More often than not, cults don’t have anything too profitable behind them but when they have something profitable, it's very profitable. Retrieval: Retrieval isn't really equipped for a large pitched battle, but Cheiron has ways. Warlords might find it weird if someone offers money and weapons for the bodies of their enemies, but they wouldn't be warlords without a certain moral flexibility. In more stable regions of the world, well cults with endowments tend to have skeletons in their closet. The right bribe, campaign donation or job creation can get the police interested. If the cultists are more likely to go to prison than die in a raid, well Cheiron is happy for someone else to pay the storage costs until they determine if it's worth the time and expense of making people disappear. Recruitment: Sometimes cult members can be valuable human resources for Cheiron. Cults, like everyone else, need money, and helpfully they already believe in the supernatural. A few suitable cults are “sub-contracted” to follow the leads for Cheiron and grab whatever Cheiron was looking for. What's more, cultists tend to gather a lot of easily led people in once place. It's a good place to look for disposable human resources, you might even find a keeper. Field Research: Cults aren't a priority for Field Research, there's usually more lucrative targets out there. Those that do end up with a spy in the mist are cults who have some reliable way of bestowing organic Endowments to their members. The lack of a predictable supply is after all, the biggest problem with the whole concept of supernatural based medicine. The Cheiron Group has successfully subverted a small number of cults and uses them as sustainable farms for supernatural body parts. The real holy grail is to figure out how to duplicate and adapt whatever the fuck cults are doing to trigger mutations in their members. So far no dice. Cheiron The Cult Here's an alternative origin story for the Cheiron Group. It all dates back to the Roman Empire, a cult of educated Greek slaves, and a centaur. They called themselves the Cheiron Collegium and they were known as the very best of physicians. Even today Archaeologists still find their name, and sometimes their sigil. The very same logo as used by the Cheiron Group. Even today The Cheiron Group honours their patron, most employees don't even know it. Every monster who dies on the vivisection table. Every monster killed by the Field Projects Devision. Every hunter who dies in company uniform. They're all sacrifices to Cheiron. The logo seals the deal, it marks each death as the property of a medicine god. In return Cheiron's doctors get something special, they gain superhuman skill. How else could a surgeon transplant a piece of soul inside an eye? While medicine made from monsters is a profitable line for The Cheiron Group it is this skill that serves as the company's real advantage in research and development. So who knows the truth? Mostly it's just the board of directors. Ordinary men and women who have a little divine help at remaining secret. With the number of people, and gods, after their blood they need protection. The board might be businessmen who see a contract with a silent partner; sacrifices in exchange for a competitive edge. Alternatively they might be devout priests of Cheiron, with regular prayers and the occasional sacrifice of an under-performing virgin intern. Lucifuge Cults are a problem for the Lucifuge: They're loud, they attract attention, and there is more in common between the divine and the infernal than many people like to admit. Lucifer was an angel once. When cults cause trouble, hunters start looking for trouble. Just sometime's they find the Lucifuge and even if they don't, the Children of the Seventh Generation would do well to keep their heads down. Hunters can't always tell the difference between a pagan god or demon and those who've renounced their father's sins. Sometimes they can tell exactly what the Lucifuge are, and just don't care. So it's best to nip these things in the bud. So on the whole The Lucifuge knows quite a lot about cults, how to find them and how to deal with them. They observed Anton LeVay’s Church of Satan for years before they were sure it was only a statement instead of a real and dangerous cult (and they still keep an eye, because sometimes dangerous cultists don't know the difference either). They’ve tracked members of L’Enfant’s Diabolique from nation to nation as they’ve created mad personal followings to bring demonic entities into the world. The ones that call Satan their dark father and try to set up human sacrifices in the dark and forgotten places of the world are top priority. Demonic cults have a special place in hell, and the Lucifuge are happy to send them there. It can be nearly impossible to tell an actual demon from some other kind of monster than looks like one. So as far as the Seventh Generation are concerned they'll deal with anyone that claim to follow the demonic. They'll look very closely at cults who's practices are based around sin too. Quite a few demonic cults actually view the Lucifuge as nothing more than confused and lost beings. They believe that with their powers, the Seventh Generation could seize power across the globe and make a utopia where only the most fit rule. Cases exist where Lucifuge members are kidnapped or confronted by adoring cultists begging for favors or blessings. Though some would see these actions as the final, well-deserved end to their life’s struggles, the Lucifuge only see another reminder of their damned lineages. Yet there might be a double standard. The Lady doesn’t talk about it, but sometimes a Lucifuge hunter will bring together a group of mortal followers and display their power, disguising their natures as divine or a gift. The Seventh Generation can be surprisingly lenient about it's member's building cults. After all there’s only 666 of them, where do you expect the extra manpower to come from? The Lucifuge's leniency has it's limits, if a hunter creates a cult for their own desires rather than as a tool for the vigil he's dead. If a hunter's cult is drawing attention and he won't get rid of it, he's dead. If a hunter break's the golden rule - never let other's worship you - he's dead. However the golden rule is a trick played upon the Lucifuge's own members. Demons can't feed on worship, and neither can the Lucifuge. Demons feed on sin, and by holding up worship as forbidden fruit the Lucifuge diverts their member's attention from the real secret. If a child of the Seventh Generation finds out how to build their testament and empower themselves through corrupting others they'll quickly receive a visit from the Shadow Congregation, after all they might talk to their fellow spawn of Satan. The Denial: The Denial believe that unlike monsters, and themselves, humans are not inherently evil. A cultist therefore always has a chance of redemption, long past the point where a monster must be put to the sword. This makes The Denial something of specialists in attacking the infrastructure of a cult, and visions of the hell that awaits can have even the most abusive cult leaders willingly dismissing their flock. The Reconciliation: The Reconciliation are fanatics, they wish to destroy evil. Not monsters, evil. If that evil is performed by humans, so be it. The Reconciliation do prefer redemption to death, but they also favour quick and efficient solutions. The Truth: The Truth knows. In fact the truth has known that the Lucifuge can empower themselves through a testiment of corruption for a very long time. They'd love to dig deeper and learn about their natures, but there is a deeper mystery that really gets under The Truth's skin. If gods and angels can feed on prayer, and demons can't. What changes when an angel falls? Malleus Maleficarum Catholicism is the world’s largest cult, and one of the oldest. It’s leadership may be more open than other cult heads, but the Church still keeps some secrets hidden down and away from prying eyes. Of course, Catholics don’t see themselves as a cult at all. But the methods of ensuring loyalty are there, if greatly more benevolent than many smaller cults. Prayers and schools educate the faithful, as priests and other religious answer questions as best they can to ease any misgivings from their worshippers. Missionaries spread the good word far and wide. Other, smaller organizations exist within the greater hierarchy of Rome. The now infamous Opes Dei was horribly misconstrued as a dangerous cult when it is actually the members joined voluntarily to show their devotion to God, with personal flagellation as only the most extreme measure. Besides the fact, the Malleus doesn’t want to recruit from their membership anyway. For all their devotion and, some might say, fanatasism the Shadow Congregation show more compassion to humans than many other Conspirices. Cults are mostly human, if they’re merely a group of college students or washed up hippies living outside of society and trying to find their own path to God, well they'll find the right path eventually, perhaps with a little help from a priest. The Church can’t force anyone to sign the line anymore, and quite often these local groups can actually agree with the local Catholic community on issues of social justice and, occasionally, destroying that which lives in the dark places of the world. Cults that base themselves around a vampire, witch or demon are unsurprisingly destroyed, and the Hammer of Witches can have a very broad definition of witchcraft. Most cults who see their prayers answered must in turn answer to the inquisition. The Shadow Congregation's eye also falls upon those cults that base themselves around a horrifying misinterpretation of the Biblical teachings. Herasy must be met without mercy. Most religiously focused cults tend to fear the Malleus like the wrath of God they are. In areas with a firm Malleus presence fringe religions go into the deep shadows and stay there until they can either get out or fight. Areas with more room to roam allow cults more area to avoid the Malleus unless they desire a confrontation. Some cults see the Catholic Church as the ultimate enemy, the one force that must be eliminated. Students of history, these cults the destruction of the Church as a means to an end. Like the old empire, the Holy See will fall, and in its last breaths proclaim a new religion of the world. If these cults are more than just talk they will soon confront the Chruch's protectors. They may even know of the Shadow Congregation and make plans for war. These cults usually last a few years before they’re put down by fire and faith. The Order of St Longinius: A vampire's cult slash lunch box. A witches coven of acolytes. A demon's followers. These are not the enemy of the Order. They are obstacles between the Order and it's true enemies: The vampire, the witch, and the demon. They accept that they will have to kill humans who raise guns in defence of the monsters, but they don't go out of their way to do so. Who knows, the survivors might even accept mercy and return to the church. Brotherhood of St. Athanasius: The Brotherhood are fanatics. They want the cultists dead just as much as the monster. Some of them even look funny at Hindus or Buddhists. In today's multi-faith and media conscious world Baudolino sees the Athanasius as a disaster waiting to happen, both for The Shadow Congregation and for the Catholic Church itself. However even he can't deny that sometimes the Athanasius have rendered judgement to truly monstrous cults when the other Order's let fear stay their hand. Order of St. Ambrose: Sometimes the Bible says there is only one God. Sometimes the bible mentions others, did God not triumph over the many Gods of Egypt to free his chosen people from bondage. The Ambrosians don't always believe those pagan deities deserve the title of god, but many can still respect faith and quite like the occasional theological sparring match. Ambrosians call Christianity the true faith, but proving it to a Priestess of Isis who also receives miracles from her Goddess requires a deeper understanding of the scripture than preaching to the choir, and that brings an Ambrosian closer to god. If the other Order's knew the Ambrosians saw a difference between a witch and a priestess there would be hell to pay. Story Hook A cult caught the Malleus' attention in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County. The leader believed he had found a nephilim, a child of a fallen angel and a human woman. Purchasing a small farm and building his community, the leader continually preached a message of salvation through this mephilim. By the time a Malleus cell managed to investigate the area, the farmhouse was burned to the ground, the cult dispersed and the creature gone. That same Malleus cell has since heard of an underground ring involving the nephilim and other similar creatures combating each other. Whether these are the actual mephilim of Apocrypha or something else entirely is still to be determined. Task Force: VALKYRIE Task Force: VALKYRIE may exist outside the usual structures of government, but it is still a part of the United States executive. The Men in Black don't have to deal with every threat to the united states, there is a division of labour at work. TF:V deals with monsters, cults are usually the FBI's problem. Usually. In July 1977 VALKYRIE learned of Operation Snow White from contacts in the FBI. Operation Snow White was a plan by Scientology’s Guardian Office to gain access into the Federal government, ordered by none other than L. Ron Hubbard himself. The goal was to secure any and all damaging evidence against Scientology, and it was the largest infiltration of the Federal government by any power. While The Men in Black weren't exactly happy to hear about the FBI's screw up they were far more concerned to hear that certain documents, now in FBI custody, could potentially reveal the existence of TF:V. In response VALKYRIE authorised Operation Poison Apple, or in English: damage control. Censoring the FBI's information required nothing more than the official channels, censoring the Church of Scientology's Guardian Office required arranging quite a few accidents of people suspected of knowing too much. The second stage of Operation Poison Apple was an extensive technology-led census of cults operating on American soil to see if anyone else may be a threat to the integrate and secrecy of VALKYRIE. They unearthed hippies, sincerely devout nutjobs, profiteering master manipulators, and monsters. Lots of monsters. Operation Poison Apple was a wake up call, and a rather unpleasant one at that. The Men in Black had always believed that only exceptional monsters were able to subvert human societies to their dark designs. Once TF:V started investigating cults seriously they discovered that it was happening everywhere. A full purge would require tripling the budget, and needless to say that didn't happen. VALKYRIE began profiling cults, building databases, performing risk assessments, and trying to see where to put the budget this year. As a rule The Men in Black are only interested in cults if there's monsters involved. Cults are far more public than the average monster, and larger than the average monster community. Every intervention risks exposure and drains the budget. If the cult's into really sick shit they might make an exception and call the FBI, but it's not TF:V's jurisdiction and the FBI have a habit of investigating callers they officially shouldn't know about. When there are monsters involved, it comes down to the usual cost/benefit analysis, and politics. Simply by virtue of having a large group of voters who can be reliably directed to the polls cults are often quite good at getting some political support, it's not like lone monsters whose lives of secrecy do half VALKYRIE's work when it's time to make them disappear. Cult busting operations tend to be some of the largest and most carefully planned missions TF:V ever undertakes, both in the combat and the cover up. On the other hand, The Men in Black are some of the very few hunters who have the resources to take down a large cult without major sacrifices. How many other hunters have access to tanks or air strikes? Project: TWILIGHT: As monsters that mimic human society cults are officially TWILIGHT's problem. The project is most concerned with cults that try to exert influence of politics or culture. Trying to convert a senator to the worship of Smenkhkare is a sure way to get TWILIGHT's attention. Project: ADAMSKI: ADAMSKI hates cults, hates them. Most monsters want to remain secret. ADAMSKI wants monsters to remain secret. It's a delicate alliance of convenience. A lot of Cults haven't read the memo; without some vampire or witch keeping things small you'll see them marching down Broadway in robes carrying the mind warping names of their dark god on crudely painted placards. ADAMSKI does a lot of work trying to keep cults underwraps, including a lot which would violate the American constitution. Everyone loves miracle healers, but if you're publicly curing incurable diseases to advertise the worship of Isis take it down a notch. ADAMSKI won't ask twice. Project: FORT: Jurisdiction friction is a common occurrence in government agencies. Cults mimic human social practices, so TWILIGHT. Gods, demons, spirits, and most of the things cults worship are extradimensional, so FORT. The truth is that, like in most things, TWILIGHT takes precedent over FORT. As a result the oddballs in FORT usually get left with the cults too small, insular or harmless for TWILIGHT to care about. Most of them are happy to share the good word, even with government agents. Story Hook After a time everyone in TFV hears the rumors: There really is a secret group pulling the strings in government, going by various names through time. At one time it was actually called the Masons (no relation), but it’s also been called the Bricklayers, Plumbers, Electricians, and even the Carpenters more recently. Depending on the story, they’re either the power behind the government trying to keep things running in the face of sequesters and budget cuts, or the ones manipulating those problems into existence in order to one day seize utter control when it all collapses. Course those are just rumors. It’s not like the men you see with oddly similar lapel pins meeting in the State Department are part of it. Or the generals in the Pentagon. Or the Department of the Interior members that always drink at the same exclusive club. Right, no conspiracy. Grab your thermal gear and directional mike, this shit is just too weird to be coincidence. The Order of the Sheltering Spire A Safe Place People in the World of Darkness aren't entirely ignorant. They know that there's strange things in the shadows, and they hide. Not just from the monsters, but from the fear of the monsters. But what do they do when they can't hide? Not everyone is cut out to be a Hunter. For those who can neither pretend the monsters are fictional or take up a stake and light a candle, The Sheltering Spire makes a tempting offer. “We can protect you from the monsters, we're the only people who can.” Like many cults, The Order is young enough that it's still led by it's original founders. A cabal of demonologists. The cabal were bit players in the occult game; starved for resources, power, and respect, but like any demonologist not heading for an early grave they were ambitious and cunning. They'd hardly have survived if they weren't. On the October of 1996 opportunity presented itself, a group of suburbanites seeking to rise above consumerism though a mixture of paperback shamanism and marijuana had managed to offend a pack of werewolves and were being systematically hunted down. The cabal appointed a figurehead from among their ranks and contracted a demon to battle the werewolves. On the 12th the Cult's first recruit John “The Green” Jackson was stunned to be alive after an enormous flock of crows attacked the Werewolves hunting him. Stunned, and more than happy to believe the stranger who claimed to be an emissary from the spirit of a far away mountain, a spirit offering sanctuary to John and all his fellows. By the time the Werewolves had destroyed the demon their prey had fled, which suited the pack well enough. From there things progressed as cults tend to do. Money was no obstacle, hell has no shortage of damned wealth, but there were other things the cabal wanted from their new followers. Assistants, labour, ritual participants, even apprentices. All this required transitioning the flock's theme park understanding of shamanism into something that would be practically useful to bind a demon. Latin chants instead of drum beats. Isolating their followers was easy, they were already in hiding, adapting their occult beliefs took more time but with the credibility of a working miracle (and the occasional minor display) it was not any harder. Today The Order of the Sheltering Spire is a thriving community. Unlike many cults they don't evangelise broadly. Instead they focus on a very certain type of recruit, people in personal danger from monsters. People willing, perhaps desperate, to accept the protection of the “mountain spirit”. They make a special effort to recruit hunters, especially those who's Vigil is about protecting their own friends or family. After the nightly vigil former-hunters are an invaluable addition to the Order's defences, and with their loved ones safely sheltered by The Spire there's no question of loyalty. As for the cabal, they're still there of course. They love every bit of their little cult. It's amazing how much easier it is to bind a demon when you have a whole community chanting at your direction. Safely cocooned within layers of armed defenders, assistants, apprentices, “retrieval experts”, and bound demonic defenders they peruse their dark art. A idealic housewife looking woman walks towards the viewer carrying a tray of lemonade and biscuits. Underneath is the caption: This is a lovely community, it's safe here. The Enemy For the most part The Spire's enemies are limited to those who threaten them. Usually this means witches, and hunters. Witches are often inquisitive and drawn to investigate the occult, the spire certainly qualifies. Not every witch would actually object to demon worshipping cults, but why take the risk? Hunters are just as inquisitive, some may have access to Endowments or other mystical abilities that could lead them to the demons. Others might know the signs of a cult and investigate, either out of principle or because they wish to extract someone. For their own good of course. Not all who threaten the Spire managed to track down the secretive organisation. The cabal do have their eyes on various artefacts and texts of demonology, this puts them on the offensive. Usually against other infernalists. In conflict the Spire relies heavily upon their sanctuary, when threatened their natural response is to retreat and hunker down. This attitude spreads to their missions abroad, they favour quick jobs and a quicker retreat. If you can steal without a fight at all, that's even better. However like many cults their members have a good share of fanatics, and quite often members choose to fight to the death rather than risk leading a clearly superior force back home. Sidebar: A Safe Place The Order of the Sheltering Spire bases it's reputation on providing a safe place to live and it's not really a lie. At any given time the Spire has around three greater daemons and nine lesser demons bound into service. In keeping with their cover story as mountain spirits these demons manifest as “rock monsters”, save for one greater demon that has no material form and defends against equally intangible threats such as sympathetic magic. This is in addition to the large amounts of guns and mundane fortifications. Successfully invading the Spire is beyond some hunter compacts and would require the rest to dedicate a significant portion of their assets; and most compacts lack that kind of central organisation. Most conspiracies would have little trouble wiping the Spire from the map if they were ever given a real reason to focus their attentions. Hunters You and a couple of buddies were hunters, just three average guys tried to keep the streets safe for your families. One night only you came home. You'd heard about The Spire on the vigil's grape vine. The next night your bags were packed. You've always been interested in shamanism but you didn't want to be one of those phonies who couldn't tell the difference between America and Mongolia. It took a bit of research, but you found what seemed like reliable evidence of actual magic. Now to see if they'll take a student. You were born with your life planned out for you, a hereditary line of vampire servants. Slaves would be more accurate. Well fuck that. You overheard the vampires talking about a place their kind never go, sounds like a good place for you. Stereotypes The Lucifuge: I heard that one of the kids living here, her parents sold her soul to the devil. I mean, fuck! Who'd do that to their own kid? The spirits will keep her safe, but we all need to keep a look out for demons disguised as humans. How did the outside world get so sick? I mean, fuck... The Long Night: Tell me this, if god's so great why do only evil people get the powers. It's all bloodsucking and human sacrifice, where's the power that comes from doing good? And don't give me shit about resisting temptation, not when monsters can use that power to hurt good people. The Union: They've got the right idea, a man's got to protect those closest to him, but they have no clue just what's out there. You want to protect your family, come here. The Spire will keep them safe. Task Force Valkyrie: It's the government's job to keep us safe, that's what we pay our taxes for. Pity Washington's got it's head so far up it's ass that it would rather keep GDP up than do it's job. Why aren't they teaching this shit in schools, even a bloody salt circle would do some good. Either the government really are that stupid, or they're helping the monsters cover it up. Parishes The Inner Circle are the founders and leaders of The Spire, they learned the secrets of demonology and constructed a cult around them to provide resources and mystical power for their dark arts. Their duty to the cult is binding demons to defend their little community, but the Inner Circle are scholars and many peruse their own studies and follow strange esoteric strains of mysticism. Free Speciality: Occult (Demonology) So named because much of their work is outside The Spire's homeland, The Outer Church are the militant wing of the cult. The Spire teaches that it is hopeless for humans to fight monsters, at least the stronger monsters, but every missionary has someone back in the cult's town they love enough to sacrifice themselves just to slow a monster down. On better days they acquire books or resources for the Inner Circle or patrol the cult's territory for more human threats. Free Speciality: Brawl (Hopeless Fights), Firearms (Hopeless Fights) or Weaponry (Hopeless Fights) The majority of the cult are The Sheltered, they are people who just want nothing more than to know they're safe from the predations of monsters. They live ordinary lives, save that they tithe some of their income to the cult and occasionally put on black robes and chant blasphemous Latin. Free Speciality: None. Status Status in The Sheltering Spire is directly proportional to how useful you are at fulfilling the cult's stated aims of maintaining a truly safe community. Notably Status is stratified by Parish. The Sheltered are stuck at Status 1, though a millionaire donating generously might reach the heights of status 2. The Outer Church typically reach Status 2 or 3. Though the Inner Circle start at Status 1 like everyone else, a newly joined demonogist who proves competent or successful apprentice will quickly reach status 4 and might advance as high as Status 5. A critic might call this system rigged to keep the demonologists at the top of the cult, a supporter would call it a realistic assessment of one's contributions to the cult. Status 1: You've paid your dues, and almost certainly moved into The Sheltering Spire's compound. Every home the cult builds has a panic room, worth two dots in Safehouse. Status 3: You've risked much for the cult, or perhaps just a few members kept safe by The Spire, and your dedication has been recognised. You've also learned just how far you'll go to keep those you love safe. When you risk Willpower on any roll related to keeping those you care about safe, if the roll succeeds, you gain an extra point of Willpower above the usual Willpower bounty. Status 5: Does the cult exist to keep it's members safe or you supplied in your pursuit of your art? The two are so entwined that the question becomes redundant, however you are very well supplied. You gain a dot in Resources for the tools of your trade and two dots in Allies (Outer Church Retrievers), experts in acquiring all manner of things useful to a demonologist. Storytelling the Spire Many details about the spire have been left for the storyteller to decide. To start with what exactly did a cabal want a cult for? Power and resources, certainly, but what do they plan to do with them? Live in luxury, study theoretical demonology, revenge, do they just have an endless lust for power? Perhaps the puppet masters are themselves pawns of demons? The price of this power is also undefined and can be as evil or innocent as the storyteller wishes, though it won't involve visible harm to the cult itself. Not when the entire membership remains because they believe it to be safe. Playing as a member of the Spire would be an interesting experience as it flies in the face of so many assumptions common to Hunters. Fundamentally, members believe that humans are helpless before the terrifying might of the supernatural and that only the “spirits” can keep them safe. The Inner Circle themselves pretty much are Witches. Despite this there is some room for more traditional hunting endeavours, stealing a rival demonologist's books can look a lot like demon hunting. Protecting your family, that's practically the default motivation for a hunter. As for the demon summoning, well all the conspiracies and quite a few compacts have skeletons in their closet and some form of magician on the pay roll. The Skeptic Someone you love and brought to The Spire doesn’t believe what you're preaching. Not the monsters outside, not the spirits or the demons for that matter. In fact they're well aware that they're living in a cult. The problem is that they're wrong, not just because the supernatural exists, but because some powerful monster has an eye on them. If they leave they'll be lucky to last a day. That means you have to keep them put. Demanding Attention There's a curse on your family, a monster takes the eldest of every generation. That's you by the way, but don't worry. The Spire is gong to keep you safe. On the other hand you've learned that if the eldest is out of reach, then your younger sister must serve in your place. It's too late for her to come to the spire, the monsters already have her. Normally The Spire avoids attracting attention, can you convince them otherwise. Antagonists The Order of the Sheltering Spire are an easy group to portray as antagonists. Witches, check. Demons, check. For many hunters that's enough. For hunters who's trigger fingers are a little less itchy add in a little human sacrifice, or the theft of relics from the hunter's allies. Membership is another way to sow conflict. The players could want to rescue someone from the cult, perhaps their estranged ex-husband or wife ran to The Spire with the kids. Of course, playing The Spire as antagonists doesn’t mean the demon worshippers have to be the bad guys. The Spire could be a refuge for people who have a good reason to flee from the player's Conspiracy. The Spirit's Messenger ''' A shaman comes to your cell with a message from the Spirit of the Mountain... you've heard this before? It turns out that there actually is a spirit of spire (or perhaps the cult's belief created it) and it really doesn’t like demons using it's name. Grab some drums and a ceremonial headdress because it's time for a showdown. Shamen vs infernalists, demons vs spirits, and a bunch of confused, ignorant, manipulated cultists in the middle. '''The Prodigal Son This story hook requires changing the cult, just a little. The Inner Circle are now partly or wholly Ex-Lucifuge. They're not evil, if the Lucifuge never found them they'd probably have led ordinary and unremarkable lives. However the Lucifuge simply doesn’t let descendants of Satan run around unchecked, and the one thing the inner circle didn't want is to die fighting monsters. The cult, the armed guards, the bound demons, at heart all of it is about protecting themselves from the Lucifuge. Which is a problem, since you're playing members of the Lucifuge. The Athenic Church The Women of War and Wisdom The Athenic Church unofficially began in 1970 as a thirteen-woman coven named the Church of Minerva Tritonia in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Its founder, who insisted her real full name was Morning Glory, originally belonged to the Feraferia neopagan community in Nevada City before leaving for personal reasons. In 1975, Glory‘s covenmates become concerned when she missed their annual Quinquatria celebration and potluck dinner. They found her unconscious in her living room with all her furniture shoved against the walls. She lay in the middle of seven concentric circles of Latin text written in her own blood although she lacked any discernible injuries. Glory regained consciousness before a hastily-called ambulance arrived. She politely but sternly refused to go with the paramedics and did not allow them to enter her house. Because of this, no one outside the coven ever saw the circles of blood. Once alone with her covenmates, Glory described a harrowing full-sensory vision of owls and crows circling around her as she stood in the storm‘s eye. Women‘s voices came from all sides and the birds formed silhouetted shapes to tell Glory that the goddess Minerva had chosen her and her coven to rebuild her following in the modern world. With a mixture of emotions: Delight, fear, doubt, each member of the coven were guided to meditate upon the names written in circles of blood. With Glory's help each, in time, received a vision of Minerva and in exchange for their devotion each was offered what they most wanted. The Church's first duty, dictated by Minerva herself, was to convert followers. The church soon gained a reputation for aggressive preaching which, along with their theological position on sex and virginity, began to alienate Minerva's followers from their traditional allies in the wider neo-pagen community. The goddess' habit of directing Her followers to likely recruits from technical or military backgrounds only widened the gap; creating a faith struggling to forge an identity from three different world-views, each separated from their usual communities by devotion to Minerva. With divine blessings to attract new Convert's Minerva's following is growing rapidly. The first new priestesses were inducted just one year after Morning Glory was anointed. By 1977 two new covens have been founded, named The Acropolis and The Nymphaeum after ancient temples, with the three collectively refereed to as the Athenic Church. It was also a period of restructuring, as followers from martial and technical backgrounds began to rival neo-pagens for prominence. Today the Athenic Church is a young dynamic religion, free form the dogma and traditions that slow down older religions. Yet without that very same dogma they struggle to integrate worshippers from different backgrounds and lifestyles into a unified culture. Wherever they make converts the Followers organise themselves into temples led by exactly thirteen priestesses, a legacy of their neo-pagen roots, and as many followers as can be converted. These temples exist across the United States, with a few in Great Briton and ambitious plans to gradually expand eastwards towards Rome. A late teenage or early twenties woman kneels in a (Christian) position of prayer, palms together. She has mousy hair, acne and glasses and she wears a Roman toga. Lightning plays around her hands. I owe you gratitude for your guidance, and will do you honor with my achievements. Hail Minerva, goddess of wisdom! The Enemy First and foremost the Athenic Church is a religious movement. Yes, Minerva's purview covers war but even then Her Followers don't worship Her by fighting wars. They worship Her because they're fighting in wars and could use a little protection from above. Yet people so rarely fight for the sake of fighting, there's always something else. It all comes down to resources. Minerva isn't handing out blessings out of charity. As any of Her priestesses will tell you, Minerva's following is expanding. The goddess wants Her followers to convert, to dedicate holy places in Her name. All this brings them into conflict with all sorts of monsters, other fringe religions, and even Hunters. The Athenic Church might have a wider recruiting pool than the typical new age religion, but young 20 somethings exploring alternative beliefs and trying to discover their spiritual identity still represents a rich source of converts. Here Minerva's faithful must compete for believers with all manner of cults, fringe religions, mainstream religions and stranger things. More than one potential follower has instead ended up as a vampire's living blood bag. The competition for new followers is not always peaceful (and it must be said, nor are the war goddess' followers always innocent defenders). Sacred sites are another source of contention. Whether Minerva's followers can buy a home on holy ground and renovate it into a temple or have to settle for hosting midnight prayer vigils on public (or somebody else's private) property, their goddess frequently asks Her followers to dedicate holy places in Her name. She's not the only divinity with an eye for sacred real estate, and Witches, Werewolves and other supernatural beings may have their own reasons to stake a claim to a sacred place. And of course, not everybody is tolerant of fringe faiths. The general public is unlikely to do more than make outcasts of worshippers, but family members or former friends do occasionally try to force a follower back onto the “proper path”. Other hunters are another matter: The Athenic Church is hardly the first, and won't be the last Conspiracy to be accused of Witchcraft. Even other fringe religions can consider some element of Minerva's theology to be blasphemous (on occasion Minerva has said the same about other fringe religions). All in all, the Athenic Church should count themselves lucky their goddess has a warrior aspect. Hunters Sidebar: Men Most of Minerva's followers like to think of themselves as progressive and inclusive people who are free from prejudice. Minerva herself encourages male converts, but she does not allow men to serve as priests. The result is the predictable flurry of rationalisation and theological justifications common to all religions who's theology clashes with modern ideas of equality. Not many men want to join Minerva's following for some reason. In game terms this means that men cannot advance past the second dot of Status, that is they cannot progress from a follower into a priest. You've always been a rationalist, perhaps that was why it was so easy to accept the truth of Minerva when you saw her power. As far as you know Minerva gives her followers tangible blessings, Jesus does not. As far as everyone else in your bible belt university is concerned you're the freak with a shrine to a pagan goddess in your dorm room. All you want is to get your engineering degree and a good job somewhere you can live and worship in peace. You're something of a collector. Druids, wiccica, born again Christian. Some people collect stamps, you join religions. After a few months worshipping Minerva you were ready to move on, it turns out that this goddess has no intention of letting you treat her like a cheap fling. Ah well, at least this faith comes with perks. You returned from Iraq with a new mission. On no less than three occasions you nearly died, should have died. Each time you could feel someone protecting you and you wanted, needed, to repay your debts. At first you tried the church, but you couldn't feel that presence. Afterwords you tried alternative religions, eventually you reached Minerva. Now you have what every soldier wants, someone watching your back. For that you serve Her with all your heart. You're a staunch feminist, and if you're honest you sort of have a chip on your shoulder. You choose to major in physics (or engineering, or mathematics, or computer science) to prove women can do it just as well as any man. It turns out that having something to prove is no substitute for actually liking the subject, but your ideological views and choice of subject meant you got on well with in the “Minerva women in STEM” networking group. It turns out having a goddess' support is even more effective than actually liking a subject. You've been a loyal member of a new age coven since you were sixteen. You always believed that there were many truths and may paths to the divine, so you were always happy to join another faith in worship. The Athenic Church was the first time you saw people flying to get home after worshipping. Now you know the path to the divine dosn't come from your feelings, it comes from Minerva. In your family women simply didn't fight. They were meek and followed their husbands wishes. In public you're a housewife married to a evangelical priest and raising two daughters. In private you defend Minerva's followers with a military sensibility, for once in your life you have a chance to be yourself. So far you haven't noticed the irony of pushing your reluctant daughters to serve Minerva as you do. Honestly, you're not devoted to anything. You joined up with Minerva because your friends were doing it. You'll help out if the priestesses ask, and when it's really important you'll ask them to petition Minerva on your behalf. The rest of the time, you're hardly religious at all. Stereotypes Aegis Kai Doru: It's only natural that our sisters undertake religious pilgrimages to see the old temples in Italy and Greece, but very few return from Greece. It worries me, a home of our goddess should be safe for her followers. Null Mysteriis: We had this professor interviewing us for some research on new religious movements. She kept asking me leading questions about why I joined, I didn't say anything but I think she was interested in us because she already knew about Minerva's blessings. The Marduk Society: Minerva is not the only god who still offers her blessings, we think Jupiter Himself might be active. I had to cancel an interview at Hand Holdings, I just knew I was trespassing on another god's domain when I entered the office. Circe was waitressing herself through collage, she swears everyone in this safari club she catered for were carrying powerful sacred relics like they mass produce them. It doesn’t make any sense. I'd would be terrified if the priestesses haven't said there's no quarrel between our gods. The Long Night: Their entire theology is based around oncoming violence and destruction, and people wonder why I left patriarchal religions behind me. Minerva loves us because we can create stuff. Aspects Minerva is a goddess with many names and titles, many of her followers worship the aspect of Her that they feel has the most relevance to their own life. Minerva thinks this is right and proper, and the tasks she requires, even the way she speaks to Her followers is often appropriate to aspect they worship. Followers of Minerva Bellipotens (Powerful in War) are often drawn from professional soldiers, guards and fighters. Often they want nothing more from Minerva than her skill and protection so they can survive the battlefield. Others often act like professional warriors even if they were a pampered trophy wife before pledging themselves. They serve Minerva by defending her holy places and her followers from persecution and the followers of rival gods. Free Speciality: Brawl (Minerva's Lighting) or Athletics (Minerva's Lighting) Followers of Minerva Parthenos (The Virgin) come from a spiritual background, often through neo-paganism. They are drawn to Minerva for the same reasons anyone joins a religion: A sense of group identity, spiritual fulfilment, even just the comfort of having somebody to pray to. While they are stereotyped as high priestesses in training the followers of Minerva Parthenos include both the majority of the dedicated priestesses and the majority of the “Saturday followers”. They serve Minerva as the glue that binds her followers together, from serving as priestesses to just making lots of friends and fostering a collective identity. Free Speciality: Academics (Classical religion) or Socialise (Followers of Minerva) Followers of Minerva Machinatrix (contriver or inventress) worship Minerva in her aspect as a goddess of wisdom. They mostly come from science, technology and engineering fields and serve Minerva by honouring her with temples and works of art. In return for their dedication Minerva lends them her wisdom to succeeds in their jobs. Free Speciality: Crafts (Honouring Minerva) or Expression (Honouring Minerva) Sidebar: Virginity Minerva is a virgin goddess, and while she does not expect all her followers to abstain from sex (somebody has to give birth to the next generation) her priestesses are required to retain their virginity limiting the third and higher dots of Status to those who have never enjoyed sex. Homosexual sex and – despite what Clinton says – oral sex counts. Sometimes even a devout priestess has enough of celibacy. Anyone can resign from the priesthood (resetting their status to two dots) with no formal censure. However giving into temptation before resigning will get one kicked out the priesthood in disgrace. There is no fooling a Goddess. Status O: Minerva has accepted your fealty. She offers solace and blessings in answer to your prayers, and so you may purchase dots in Devotion. You will need a priestess' help to use it, so you also get a one dot mentor, or increase an existing Mentor by one dot, representing a priestess of Minerva. OOO: You have risen from a follower to a priestess. Your experience in the service of a true goddess has given you an unparalleled sensitivity to the works of gods. You gain the Unseen Sense Merit applied to the divine. OOOOO: You are a high priestess of Minerva, and it is your role to serve as the bridge between humanity and the divine. Consequentially you can go beyond praying to Minerva for blessings, you talk to her on a daily basis. Minerva is a five dot Mentor, can a goddess be anything less? But for all she offers, she demands loyalty and devotion in return. Your mentorship will be as much of a duty as an advantage. Storytelling the Church Of the four Cults presented, the Athenic Church are the token “good cult”. This does not actually mean they have to be portrayed as nice people, but compared to some of the people and Conspiracies upholding the vigil, the hypothetical average hunter wouldn't see anything wrong with a priestess of Minerva Bellipotens joining the hunt for a rampaging werewolf. Not unless she really hates witches. Now if you're playing members of Minerva's cult you'll have to put some thought into the Goddess Herself. What exactly does She want, and why has She only recently become active? You don't have to answer that question, but you should think about it because the answer can define the player's character arc. Some players might be fine with their character discovering that her “beloved maternal figure” sees her as a disposable pawn. Others might be ok only if they knew about it before starting play, and others might want to know in advance so they can pick a different group before it is too late. The Goddess is important, but the followers cannot be overlooked. It is important to remember that thought all the followers are religious by definition, few are fanatical. A Wisdom Goddess desires followers who can think. When playing one take the time to show their faith. Show how an ordinary mechanic job really means something when seen through the worship of Minerva Machinatrix. Present opportunities to do little things for Minerva, a quick prayer, a wrestling match, abstain from sex, not because there's a pact and blessings involved, but because She's a Goddess and her followers love her. Many of the groups presented in Hunter split their subfactions along Mental/Social/Physical lines. On the surface The Athenic Church looks like it does the same, but followers of the three Aspects have such different cultures that it might be more accurate to think of them as three different interdependent cults, each with their own thinkers, talkers and doers. You'll rarely see a follower of Minerva Machinatrix writing strategy for followers of Minerva Bellipotens but you will see them designing and building the temples that the warrior priestesses pray in. Antagonists The Athenic Church might be the token “good cult” but they still have the same flaws you can see in a hundred real religions. They aggressively compete for converts, for real estate, and they believe their religion is the correct one. (They're also sexist, but compared to some of the stuff in this book. Who cares?) The first two would could give a Hunter ample reason to care, Minerva's blessings give a Hunter a reason not to leave this one to the police. For many hunters witchcraft is reason enough. The motives one hunter might oppose on ethical grounds, like defending the vulnerable from being indoctrination, another might oppose for religious reasons. Maybe the players are from a rival cult who want the same followers and sacred sites. Perhaps the players are Christian hunters who believe Minerva is tempting people away from heavenly salvation with promises of earthly power. Either side could be right, but chances are both will have to take it on faith. Then there is always the option to give Minerva a sinister long term plan. It's not like a Goddess would have much trouble fooling a bunch of mere mortals. Alternatively they could know about the plan and agree with it, if it's good for Minerva and her worshippers and bad for everyone else. The natural question is how did the players get wind of this plan, and how come a Goddess couldn't fool them? Did their own deity tell them? Like so much involving gods, it comes down to faith. Even when you're reworking the cult to make them more villainous remember that this is a Goddess of wisdom. They are not a cult of screaming fanatics, they fight with strategy. Even when their theology can be opposed on moral grounds, it will stand up to basic logic. They might be good reasonable people who you just happen to be in conflict with, they might be a cult of monstrous witches, but they aren't stupid. Every member can at the very lest think for themselves.